5 Recipes for Beauty Elixirs and Tonics

Five delicious recipes for beauty in a glass!

Healthy juices and green drinks are loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, phytonutrients and more. Energy-boosting, revitalizing and nutrient-dense, we all know by now that they are really good for us. But certain foods, great for juicing, carry beautifying and age-defying benefits as well. We asked three experts—and authors of new books on juicing—what to throw into the mix and why to create beauty elixirs and tonics.

Julie Morris

Julie Morris is an L.A.-based natural food chef, recipe developer and author of Superfood Juices (Sterling Publishing). One of her anti-aging beauty drinks features sea buckthorn, which, according to Morris, “offers a powerhouse of anti-aging nutrition. Vitamins A and C reduce inflammation, which is key for any proactive and protective beauty regimen. The berries also contain omega-7 essential fatty acids, which promote tissue regeneration and skin health.”

The Lime Greens drink is a great detoxifier, Morris says, and incredibly refreshing on a warm day. “Every ingredient is a functional one, rich in alkaline-forming minerals as well as vitamins that encourage detoxification,” says Morris. “It’s always best to be gorgeous from the inside out: A clean body means a bright complexion!”

Russian Sea Buckthorn
makes approximately 16 ounces
This drink is a dairy-free, sugar-free version of a traditional Russian drink that uses sea buckthorn berries.

4 carrots
2 tablespoons sea buckthorn berry juice
1 cup coconut water
¼ cup raw cashews
sweetener, to taste

Juice the carrots. Transfer the fresh juice to a blender and add the sea buckthorn berry juice, coconut water, and cashews. Blend until smooth and creamy, and strain if needed. Add a touch of sweetener like stevia, as desired.

Lime Greens
makes approximately 16 ounces
This is a green juice with a nice savory twist.

1 cucumber
1 romaine lettuce heart
3 celery stalks
½ lime, juiced
¼ teaspoon wheatgrass powder

Juice the cucumber, lettuce heart and celery. Transfer to a shaker cup, add the lime juice and wheatgrass powder, and mix well to combine.

Reprinted with permission from Superfood Juices © 2014 by Julie Morris, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Katrine van Wyk

Katrine van Wyk is a certified holistic health coach, nutrition consultant at the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in New York City and author of Best Green Drinks Ever (The Countryman Press). Her Skin Tonic Juice recipe, below, is a detox booster and will make your skin glow.

“Cucumber is hydrating and contains a mineral called silica, which is important for production of collagen and for maintaining healthy connective tissue,” says van Wyk. “The mango not only adds delicious flavor; it contains beta carotene, an antioxidant that helps protect the skin from sun damage. Purslane is a green that is high in the essential omega-3 fatty acids which are powerful anti-inflammatories and promotes younger-looking, glowing skin,” she continues.

According to van Wyk, lemon and cilantro help the body get rid of toxins. “Cilantro is known as a chelator that helps pull metals out of the body and lemon stimulates the liver to do its detoxing job.”

Skin Tonic Juice

Here’s a delicious juice that promotes healthy, dewy and glowing skin.

1 cucumber
½ lemon, peeled
1 cup purslane
½ mango, peeled and pit removed
Handful of cilantro

Put all ingredients through a juicer. Alternate between the cucumber, mango, purslane and cilantro to help move everything through smoothly.

Recipe and photograph reprinted with permission from Best Green Drinks Ever by Katrine van Wyk, Copyright 2014.

Tess Masters

Tess Masters, self-described “blendaholic,” is an Australian transplant now based in LA. Masters is a cook, recipe developer and author of The Blender Girl (Ten Speed Press), which features 100 delicious gluten-free, vegan recipes.

“The blender is the ultimate culinary gift from the gods since fire and spoons, allowing us to pack a truckload of nutrients into one nutritious blend in a fun and accessible way in just minutes,” says Masters. “Using your blender is the easiest way to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet.

For example, the energy-boosting Chia Choo Choo, recipe below, “contains more electrolytes than most commercial sports drinks and is beauty in a glass.” According to Masters, coconut water is naturally alkaline, low in calories and carbohydrates, high in protein, B vitamins, ascorbic acid and potassium, and contains zinc, selenium, iodine and other minerals. “It is just wonderful for improving the quality of your skin and can help diminish skin spots and nourish cracked lips,” she says. “The vitamin C in the orange, lime and lemon juice, and the alkalizing minerals in the lemon and lime give this drink an extra boost that cleanse and detoxify the body resulting in better digestion, improved skin, hair, nails and clearer eyes.”

The star here, though, is chia, which improves skin by helping to strengthen cell membrane barriers that allow water and nutrients in while keeping toxins out. Chia seeds are also loaded with antioxidants and are powerful anti-inflammatory agents. The natural oils help to diminish redness in the skin, inhibiting wrinkles, according to Masters.

Chia Choo Choo!

To get the best consistency, make this a couple of hours before you drink it and let it chill.

Serves 1

2 cups coconut water
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons black or white chia seeds
Alcohol-free liquid stevia or other natural sweetener

Throw the coconut water, lime zest, and juices into your blender and blast on high for 30 to 60 seconds, until the zest has been pulverized and evenly distributed. Add the chia seeds and blend on low (if you’re using a high-speed blender) or high (if you’re using a conventional blender) for just a few seconds until the chia is incorporated and slightly broken down but not fully blended. Taste, add about 5 drops of stevia or to taste, and blend again briefly. Transfer the mixture to a glass jar and chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. (If you used chilled liquids to begin with, you can drink this right away for an immediate boost, but the chia will be gritty.) Give it a stir before drinking.

Pineapple-Ginger Lemonade

This naturally sweetened lemonade contains alkalizing lemon juice, which helps to balance any acidity in the body, cleansing and detoxifying the body.

Serves 2

2 cups water
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
3 cups diced ripe pineapple, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons agave nectar, plus more to taste

Throw all of the ingredients into your blender and blast on high for about 1 minute, until well combined. Tweak flavors to taste (you may want more lemon juice, pineapple or agave nectar). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or nut milk bag, chill, and serve.

Recipe reprinted with permission from The Blender Girl: Super-Easy, Super-Healthy Meals, Snacks, Desserts, and Drinks—100 Gluten-Free, Vegan Recipes! by Tess Masters, copyright © 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

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Superfood Tip Using romaine hearts in juice recipes is a great way to get in more greens without adding “green” flavor. This oft-forgotten superfood is an especially good source of folate, a B vitamin important for energy and regulating mood.

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